Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design - Lakewood, Colorado

Corinne Votaw

Beware of predatory recruitment practices. Just learned they attempted to separate my 17 y/o special-needs daughter of her entire trust fund to pay for tuition. That the recruiter didn't think to ask basic questions, or worse, perhaps intentionally targeted my developmentally delayed daughter? Sickening. Coaching her on how to access her money against her guardians will? Absolutely disgusting.

Leo

I thought I’d leave a review as a currently attending student (2024) I’ve been attending for about a year+ now and the more you continue on the more my peers drop out around me out of frustration. All of the bad reviews are based in truth, but I feel like it also depends on your degree. As an illustrative design student I feel like I’m learning and my teachers are engaged. Animation is a COMPLETELY different story, do not go to this school for that. All of my friends in that department have left.
Negatives:
• they don’t spend your tuition money effectively
• administration is really hard to deal with sometimes and you don’t get to pick your classes
• their strict attendance policy can be really difficult to work around and they give little leeway to help you. If you miss more than 2-3 classes then it’s 10% off your grade
• they put you in online classes even as an on-ground student
• the graphic design classes are great
• everyone is too nice and it’s hard to improve because you can get away with mediocre and subpar work and get the same grade as trying. It feels like a sheltered environment where they let anyone graduate
• They haven’t put much work into making some buildings accessible, if you have a wheelchair or mobility aids I feel it is harder to get around especially into the main entrances

Positives:
• I LOVE my professors
• The students are super kind and it’s a great environment for queer people
• The tools you have access to are awesome and there’s tech bar to help you out
• There’s a cafe in the basement that is super convenient
• I feel safe physically there
• Campus is beautiful and the buildings are pretty nice
• you’re connected to the Denver art scene through a lot of the teachers
•teachers are willing to work with you and help you out
• smaller class sizes and more one on one time if that’s what you’re looking for.

Overall this school really isn’t the worst and there’s a reason I’m still attending but it definitely does not work out for everyone.

Schmxnderz

I was so excited to go to this school a few years ago when I applied, but now I deeply regret it. The school has major administrative issues, as I have had a new academic counselor nearly every semester over 3 years. I still don’t know who my counselor is, and they don’t appear to share notes on file or anything because I have to re-explain my situation to every single new person. The school is also incredibly ableist; I had to take some time off from classes due to a major hip surgery so I would be able to walk normally, and because I took time off to relearn how to walk, RMCAD took away my scholarship I had earned. They also refuse to give it back, despite knowing I had to leave school for only 2 terms/16 weeks in order to learn to walk again. I’ve just never heard of a school taking away a scholarship because of someone’s health issues needing to be taken care of…absolutely unreal. They also constantly schedule me at 8am, which is a class time I cannot do for other health reasons, yet have been putting me in these classes nearly every semester despite saying they had “made a note” of my medical needs. This school truly doesn’t care about anyone who has medical issues, and they’re only here to take your money. I seriously wouldn’t have gone here if I knew how they treated their students. Another money hungry private school 🙁

UPDATE: the school just dropped me for being unable to attend class for health reasons that they have known about for years. Again - incredibly ableist school. Don’t attend here if you have ANY health problems because they just don’t care and will end up dropping you without warning and with thousands in student debt/no degree. I DEEPLY regret going here and can’t stress that enough. GO ANYWHERE ELSE!!!

Jessicann Smith

I’ve been attending RMCAD for a while now and all I can say is that they are bad at working with people with LOAs even though there are some good professors that do. When ever I struggle to turn in assignments they never reached out to me for support to help me succeed in the class since some of them will only say communicate too me which isn’t helpful at all . Also they kept putting me in online classes that are worthless and have nothing to do with my degree even though I have other classes on campus. They put me on suspension and told me that I have to go through the admissions process again in order to pick up where I left off. Then the financial aid department is a mess since they failed to notify me that I had a past due balance when being harassed by one of the students account office people. They keep switching academic advisers without notifying us.

Riley Macias

After experiencing the closure of my first school (AiColorado) I transferred to this school for my final year (2019-2020). I switched to online since I had to commute, but all of my professors were super helpful and supportive through my transition. The curriculum was very clear and was never confusing. If I needed help, a professor was a text/phone call/email away! I got my degree from them and I regret not coming here from the start.

A. Mous

This school barely teaches you anything about the actual making of art and focuses more on being able to research art history and write papers. Their equipment is outdated, damaged, uncomfortable, and unsuited for the tasks they expect from students.

The faculty is, for the most part, engaged and excited to help students learn, but administration ties their hands and interferes unnecessarily.

You’ll find most of your tuition dollars go towards landscaping and advertisement tools, like a fire truck, which every art school needs, and not towards things like student studio space, working vending machines (there’s one for eight large buildings, so if you are unable to walk very far, bring your own snacks), or other things that would be beneficial to students attending.

Advisors are more focused on calling, texting, and emailing students regarding attendance policy than putting students in classes that will work for them in the first place (YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHOOSE YOUR OWN CLASSES OR WITHDRAW/ADD WITHOUT A FIGHT, no matter what admissions tells you.)

Their learning management system is needlessly complicated and half of the professors don’t even bother setting it up for their classes. Most of the faculty is adjunct and angry about their pay and workload so expect that to translate to their general demeanor. The higher ups are not Art people, don’t visit classes, and waste money.

If you want to learn about artistic techniques, or art history for that matter, you could save yourself a lot of money by searching YouTube (this is where most class content will come from anyway.) Overall, I’m glad I did it, but I wish I had chosen a better school that cared more about my education than my money. That’s what you get what you turn education into a money mill.

Brittney C.

I have a har time putting into words my time here at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. I was here for a year and I was happy to leave. You may learn some cool stuff and there are some very talented and kind professors that work here. There are also professors that have no clue what they are doing and are definitely not experienced in the field or knowledable in the subject they are teaching. This school is scructured for burnout, mentally and physically. It is way too expensive and will not teach you what you need to be successful in the field. There are probably many other and better financial routes that students can take to get the various degrees offered here. There is a reason the graudation rate is low. People enter here and then realize what it's like and then they leave. This school did teach me some stuff but I probably could have learned it elsewhere for way cheaper. The school took a lot of money from me that I wish I could get back. Most students here also don't take the teachings seriously and it doesn't create a great environment as you have people wasting your professor's time and the students time. Overall save your money and put it towards an institution that cares about you and your education. Don't go here. I don't leave reviews and upon applying for this school I shook off the bad reviews I read here saying that "these were just mad people leaving mad reviews." They weren't, these people are trying to help you learn from our mistakes. Heed the warning.

Graves Broderick

This college is a SCAM. If you care about your education, please do not go here. I was on track to graduate early, and had a scholarship that covered almost HALF of my tuition, and even then it wasn't worth attending this worthless school. Everyday I came into contact with uneducated and disrespectful teachers, and peers at an elementary school art-level. The educational standards at this school are astoundingly low, recovering topics I learned in second grade public school, such as "the definition of a research paper." When expressing my desire for a more stimulating educational experience, I was met with backlash and punishment for being ahead of the curve. When I decided to drop out, they tried SCAMMING me for thousands of dollars. They attempted to retroactively removing my scholarship after I dropped out, which was nowhere to be found in the scholarship agreements. My family had to submit an appeal for this choice, and we were luckily able to avoid this outrageous fine. Perhaps this school would be okay for someone merely looking for a degree, and who has plenty of disposable income to waste. But for anyone wanting a quality education and a positive college experience, this college is not for you.

Edit: I have since met other students who were also scammed for thousands of dollars in retroactive fees when they dropped out. This college has some really sketchy stuff going on.